How Astrid Trains Her Dragon
by Tacotitan
Summary: After another raid by dragons, Astrid is eager and ready to go into dragon training. Her discovery of a tied up Night Fury, however, changes all that. Rated T because just to be safe. Contains Hicstrid, but not till later. Edit: There were some slight problems with the latest chapter, but now it is fixed and uploaded. Enjoy.
1. The Discovery

**Authors Note: Okay, this is my first story in all of history. I had to alter my writing style a tad bit (simplifying it, specifically. Astrid isn't the one to go on and on with elaborate vocabulary in my view at least.) I hope you enjoy.**

"Ok, but I hit a Night Fury."

Those were words Hiccup often said in the aftermath of almost every dragon attack. Each time the dragons attacked, Hiccup would get outside the forge and use an invention of his to try to down a Night Fury.

Each time, it wouldn't work.

Each time, I felt sorry for him.

"Quite the performance," Tuffnut said with sarcasm, obviously.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!" Snoutlout mocked.

"Thank you, thank you, I was trying," said Hiccup, a bit shamefully.

I thought how hard it must have been to be Hiccup, especially now. He was son of the chief, Stoick, and yet, he was the smallest and weakest in all of Berk. Must be hard trying to get approval from his father, let alone everyone else...

Normally, I wouldn't care when he said stuff about a Night Fury, but he seemed more sure about it this time, and even pointed out where he, uh, "supposedly" saw it land...

"So, Astrid, now that the loser's gone, how about we hang out by the docks, if you don't have any plans," Snotlout asked, flexing his muscles.

I almost threw up at the thought. Snotlout was a self-centered jock who flirted with any teenage girl he liked. I, among others, was disgusted by his poor tries at getting a date with me, since he was repulsive, even for a Viking.

"Ahhh, yeah, no. I got to go practice," I said, running off towards Raven's Point.

I wanted to become a true viking, not just another fire fighter. To do that, I would practice with my axe day in and day out. It would also get me away from Snotlout...sometimes.

I spent the early hours of the morning practicing various maneuvers, as well as fine tuning my aim with my axe. Time flew by, with hours feeling like minutes. This was my time to myself, and though it didn't look like it, I was at peace.

In the end, I had to stop and head back to the village. Sometimes, I took the same trail to get there, but I decided, for once, to take the scenic route. Haven't been on that path in a while, but I remember some great memories on the way through. The bushes, the rocks, the branches…

I almost didn't notice one branch lower than the others, that was about to hit me in the face. Stopping in my tracks, I noticed that it wasn't the only one that was at that height. I noticed it was a whole tree, knocked down by something crashing through. Heck, a whole trail was wrecked. I walk down, and slowly reared my head over a small hill. I was shocked by what I saw next.

Hiccup was right. He did shoot down a Night Fury, and here it was, all tangled up and helpless.

What could I have done? I kept wondering if I should go back to tell everyone, but then Hiccup would be glorified, and I'd get no credit even for finding it. Plus, if I killed it myself, I wouldn't only show I can kill a dragon before needing training, but that I can kill any dragon! After all, it IS a Night Fury.

I walked closer to the dragon to get a better look at it. That was when I saw that the dragon was staring at me, but not with anger or hatred.

It stared at me in fear.

I stopped looking the dragon's stare. I was determined to kill it. I went into the proper position to cut the dragon open with my axe, and I swung it.

That was when the Night Fury jumped on top of me and pinned me down. My axe was knocked from my hand, leaving me defenseless. All I felt was fear as I stared back at the dragon. I thought that it couldn't end like this.

The dragon reared its head as I closed my eyes. That was when the dragon roared in my face and glided off. As I got up, I became confused by what happened. Throughout my life, the other Vikings told me that dragons would always go for the kill. Always.

So why didn't this one?

**Oh, one other thing. Please review. I want to know what you guys think.**


	2. The Memory

**Alright, second chapter! YAHOO!**

I stood where the Night Fury pounced me for what felt like an hour. The memory kept coming back to my mind during that time.

I headed back to the village after much hesitation. When I got back, the memory was still repeating itself. I did my chores, hoping that it would stop. When that didn't work, I went to my room to try to take a brief nap, hoping that would make it stop.

For a little while, it actually worked. I saw myself fighting dragons as they raided Berk. When the sound of the Night Fury came, however, the memory returned. That was when I woke up.

I was out of options. No matter what I did, the memory if what happened at Raven's Point just kept coming back. I decided then that the only way to get what happened out of my head was simply to return to where it happened. I did not know what I was going to do when I got there, but I hoped that whatever I did would get the memory out of my head.

As I got close to Raven's Point, I saw Hiccup coming from where the Night Fury pounced on me before. He looked like he saw a ghost or a...

"NIGHT FURY! Night Fury in the cove!" Hiccup shouted in fear. He continued on to mumble something about the dragon somehow escaping and waiting to kill him in the cove or something. Most of what he said was just gibberish, though.

As Hiccup continued to speak what only the gods would know, I thought that if he went into dragon training, it would simply be a miracle for him to survive it, let alone becoming able to kill a dragon.

I reached out and shook him by the shoulder to get him to stop, but it did nothing. He simply rambled on, and he may have tried to convince me not to go, but I don't know. I really did not pay much attention to what he was saying. In the end, I decided to just let him go back to the village as he was. After all, he would calm down, eventually.

Looking into the cove, I saw the black dragon as it grabbed a fish from a small lake. After it ate its catch, the Night Fury tried to fly out of the cove, only for it to come crashing down.

I tried to get a closer look at the Night Fury, but when I did, I accidentally knocked a rock down into the cove, catching the dragon's attention. I froze as the dragon stared at me. I thought it was going to set me on fire, but it simply looked at me.

After a little while, I returned to the village. Hiccup told everyone what happened, but, like always, they simply ignored him. I didn't tell anyone what happened, and after I ate, I went to bed to get some rest. I would need it, as dragon training was starting the next morning.

**Next chapter is going to be far larger, I swear! Why? Well, it's the start of dragon training!**

**As always, review. I like seeing what your thoughts are so far.**


	3. The First Day

**Heeeey, look who's here! Sorry for the long time making this chapter, but there… unpleasantness I had to (and still have to) deal with.**

**Also, to answer your question, all the way home, is that Astrid, instead of using her ax on its intended target, only cut the ropes that tangled Toothless.**

**Anywho, enjoy.**

The first thought that entered my head after waking up was that it was the first day of dragon training. Today was the day I've been waiting for my whole life, and yet, I did not feel as excited as I thought I would be. I still remembered how that Night Fury looked at me after it spotted me. It looked almost... curious.

After forcing the image out of my head, I got dressed and grabbed my axe. As soon as I got out of the house, I made my way to the great hall to have breakfast.

Entering the hall, I noticed that I was the first person to enter it today. After lighting candles to brighten up the otherwise dark building, I grabbed some bread and chicken for breakfast. Before I could take my seat, however, the twins came rushing in. The two raced towards the table where all the food was located and they both grabbed an end of the same loaf of bread.

"This is MY bread!" Shouted Tuffnut as he pulled the bread away from his sister.

"No, it's MINE! I saw it first." Yelled Ruffnut, tugging the bread towards her.

"Well, I thought of having it first."

"Oh yeah?"

That was when Ruffnut punched Tuffnut in the face, making him let go of the loaf before he fell onto his butt. Ruffnut simply smirked as she took a seat next to me.

"Same old routine?"

"Yep."

Ruffnut then shoved part of the loaf into her mouth as her brother slowly got back up. Tuffnut grabbed a piece of a chicken before he took a seat across from his sister.

The next one in was Fishlegs. He didn't say much to us, though he was muttering something quietly to himself. He grabbed a pheasant breast before taking a seat next to Tuffnut. Fishlegs normally kept his thoughts in his head, so I decided to ask him what was up.

"Hey, Fishlegs, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just excited that I'll be able to get a closer look at a dragon today." Fishlegs looked like he was about to squeal in joy.

"You do realize that we are going to have to fight the dragon, right?" Fishleg's eyes went wide open.

"Uhhhh, yeah, of course I do."

Fishlegs then turned away and started to tap his fingers together, while I just turned my attention back to my breakfast. Before I could finish it, however, Snotlout came in.

'So much for breakfast.' I thought.

Snotlout grabbed a piece of fish before he made a move for the seat next to mine.

"Mind if I take this..."

I grabbed my axe and held it so it's head was on the seat, while I sternly looked at Snotlout's eyes.

"I mind."

"Fine. Maybe some other time." Snotlout moved to the other side of the table as Tuffnut scooted away from Fishlegs.

"Hey, what's happening, Tuffnut?" Snotlout said as he took his seat next to Tuffnut.

"Oh, nothin'..." Tuffnut looked at his sister as she smiled again before looking at Snotlout again.

"Just waiting for dragon training to start."

Snotlout took a bite from his fish before he spoke back to his friend.

"Oh, yeah, that starts today. Can't wait." Food came out of Snotlout's mouth as he spoke.

This is what I meant by Snotlout being repulsive even by our standards. Anyway, Snotlout continued to talk with his mouth full.

"But I am sure I could go out there and kill a dragon without any training." Snotlout then swallowed the food he had in is his mouth as Gobber came in.

"Alright, lads, finish up yur meals, because 'tis almost time to begin yur training."

The other teens and I rushed to finish our meals before we took off for the arena. We were all quiet as we neared the place. The arena was easily the oldest building we had in Berk, as it was the only one that wasn't mostly flammable. I was right behind Gobber when he raised the arena's gate.

"Welcome to dragon training!" Gobber said as he hobbled out of our way.

"No turning back..."

I slowly walked into the arena as the others followed. I looked around at the walls of the arena. They were oddly clean for a place where many dragons were killed.

"I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut excitedly said.

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back." Ruffnut responded as the image of the Night Fury returned to my head for a brief moment.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." I said halfheartedly, though the others were not really paying attention.

"Yeah, no kidding, right?"

We all turned in surprise. It was Hiccup. I was half-expecting him to not show up, especially after his panic attack yesterday. Then again, either he's braver than I thought, or Stoick probably forced him to enter training.

"Pain. Love it." The small Viking said sarcastically.

"Oh great, who let him in?"

Before the others could complain, Gobber entered the arena and began to speak.

"Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."

"Hiccup already got a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him or..." Snotlout started before the others laughed.

If only they knew how right he was...

"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut said before we walked off. Gobber spent a brief moment reassuring Hiccup before the blacksmith put him next to Fishlegs and continued to the massive doors.

"Behind these doors are just a few of the species that yu'll learn to fight."

Gobber went to the side of one the doors and began to walk towards the others.

"The Deadly Nadder."

"Speed: eight. Armor: sixteen." Fishlegs said under his breath. I looked at him for a second and saw he could that he had forgotten about the danger as he barely contained his excitement.

"The Hideous Zippleback." Gobber continued.

"Plus eleven stealth, times two." Fishlegs said, a little louder this time.

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Firepower: fifteen." Fishlegs said, louder still.

"The Terrible Terror."

"Attack: eight. Venom: twelve."

"WULD YU STOP THAT?!" Gobber yelled, obviously annoyed.

"And, the Gronkle"

"Jaw strength: eight." Fishlegs said quietly, though I was just barely able to hear it.

That was when Gobber pulled the lever on the Gronkle's door. I went into position to be ready for it.

"Woah, wait. Aren't you gonna teach us first?!" Snotlout said as he began to panic.

"I believe 'n learnin' on the job." Gobber said calmly right before the Gronkle bursted through the doors. We all scattered as Gobber began to speak again.

"Today is about survival. If yu get blasted, yur dead. Quick, what's the first thing yur going to need?"

I heard Hiccup and Fishlegs say something, but I couldn't make out what before I made my answer.

"A shield."

I didn't hear what Gobber said as I ran towards and picked up the shield closest to me, but seeing that the others were also trying to grab one, I assumed Gobber said I was correct.

"Yur most important piece of equipment is yur shield. If yu must make a choice b'tween a sword and a shield, take the shield."

I kept my eyes on the Gronkle so it couldn't sneak up on me while I heard the twins get into another fight causing me to sigh inside. Of all the times they could bicker, they chose now...

The Gronkle took notice of the twins lack of attention and shot the shield they were fighting over.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, yur out!"

Besides being dazed, the twins were fine. That was when the Gronkle turned it's attention towards the rest of us.

"Those shields are good for 'nother thing: noise. Make lot's of it to throw off a dragon's aim."

We began to beat our shields with our weapons and, as Gobber said it would, the Gronkle became confused. Hiccup, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and I surrounded the dragon before we broke away from it.

"All dragons 'ave a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronkle have?"

"Five?" Shouted Snotlout.

"No, six." Shouted Fishlegs, who stopped paying attention to what was going on.

"Correct. That's one for each of ya!"

The Gronkle shot Fishlegs' shield out of his hand, causing him to run while he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Fishlegs, out." Gobber said before he turned his attention to Hiccup, who was hiding behind a shield rack.

I stopped to take a breath, only to have Snotlout hit on me. The Gronkle looked in my direction, so I summersaulted away before it fired and hit Snotlout's shield.

"Snotlout, yur done."

I stopped next to Hiccup, who turned his attention to me.

"So, uh, it's just me and you, huh?" Hiccup's voice cracked as I saw the dragon turn towards us.

"Nope, just you."

I ducked out of the way as the Gronkle shot Hiccup's shield clean off. He ran towards it before the dragon followed Hiccup and pinned him to a wall.

"Hiccup!" Gobber shouted as he ran towards his apprentice.

The dragon prepared to fire, but before it could finish the job, Gobber grabbed it's jaw, causing the shot to miss.

"And that's six! Go back to bed, ya over sausage! Yu'll get 'nother chance, don't ya worry." Gobber then threw the Gronkle back to it's pen.

"Remember, a dragon will always..." Gobber turned his attention towards Hiccup before continuing.

"Always go for the kill."

There was that phrase again, and with it, the memory of what happened with the Night Fury yesterday.

Gobber walked away as Hiccup got up and looked at where the Gronkle's last shot hit. As he just stood there, I walked up to Gobber, who noticed me as he began to clean up the arena.

"Ah, well done, lass. Yur the last one standin'."

"Thanks..." I scratched the back of my head as I wondered whether to ask Gobber a question or not.

"So, what do ya need?"

"Oh, I just had some questions on..." I stopped briefly before I continued.

"Night Furies."

Gobber stopped and looked at me like I was crazy.

"Sorry, lass, but we know next teh nothing on Night Furies." Gobber said before continued with his task.

"I know, but maybe someone encountered one and..."

"Nobodies met one and lived to the tale, lass." Gobber interrupted.

'Not anymore.'

"Still, there must be something we have on them?"

"Tell ya what, I'll bring the Book of Dragons to the great hall so ya can learn everythin' we know 'bout dragons."

"But..." I began, but Gobber moved away and concentrated on cleaning up the arena.

'Seems I'm on my own on this.'

**As Always, read and review. Expect more chapters this size, not the wumpy kind that the first two were. Also, know that I'll be trying to post at least once a week. Don't want to keep all of you waiting for too long now. Till next time.**


	4. The Great Hall

**Before we begin, I would like to answer Yours-in-all-demigodishness's question: This is what would happen if Astrid found Toothless and started to train him.**

**Alrighty, my amigos, dig into the latest chapter! **

As I exited the arena, I wondered what I should do. There was no way I was going to tell anyone about the Night Fury, at least not yet. I needed to learn more, see what I was dealing with...

And the only way to find out, I realized, was to learn from the dragon itself.

I did all my chores for today and tomorrow so I could have more time for when I went back to the cove. The chores took nearly the rest of the day, but I knew it would be worth it.

After I was done, the sun was setting, so I went to the great hall to get some dinner. After grabbing a pheasant breast, I sat down next to Fishlegs, who was eating a chicken leg. I began to talk to after he finished his dinner early.

"Sooo, did you enjoy the first day of training?" I asked. Almost immediately, he scrambled for words.

"Uhhh, ya, though I disagree with Gobber's teaching method."

"Hey, we all made it, didn't we?"

"Yeah..."

He looked like he wanted to go on, but he didn't. After taking a bite out of my meal, I started another conversation with him.

"Hey, do you know what Gobber has planned for tomorrow?"

"I think he is going to have us face a Deadly Nadder. Hey, did you know that the Deadly Nadder has the hottest flame of any dragon, and it is also..."

He was cut short by the laughter from the twins as they entered the hall. They both got their meals and they took the seats opposite if us. After they were nearly done laughing, I spoke up.

"What did you two do now?"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut both started laughing again before Ruffnut stopped to answer my question.

"We caused the yaks to stampede, and Bucket and Mulch got ran over!"

"...Again?"

The two stopped and simply stared at me.

"Well, what else are we supposed to do? There is nothing to do here!" Tuffnut said, now frustrated.

They were right. Besides the constant dragon raids, Berk was an otherwise boring place. Still, most Vikings didn't need to raise havoc to entertain themselves.

We finished our meals right before Snotlout came in. He took a seat next to Tuffnut without grabbing anything to eat.

"Hey aren't you hungry?" Tuffnut asked.

"Na, I grabbed a chicken leg to eat before I worked out." Snotlout said before he flexed his arm.

"Gotta maintain this, you know."

That was when the smell of Snotlout's sweat reached our noses. The twins winced, Fishlegs pinched his nose, and I was just able to keep myself from throwing up...

"Woah, you smell awful, man." Tuffnut said as he turned back to Snotlout.

"You guys are overreacting..."

"No, we're not. You could kill a Zippleback with your stench." Ruffnut replied.

"Snotlout, why can't you just clean yourself after you are done working out?" I asked.

"Oh, come on. You love how I smell and you know it." Snotlout said as he leaned toward me. His breath was even worse...

Fortunately for my stomach, Gobber came in and headed towards our table.

"Al'right, lads, time to talk about what yu did wrong t'day. Let us start with what we did well. Now, what did Fishlegs 'ere do wrong?"

For the next half hour, we pointed out what we did wrong, starting with Fishlegs, and ending with me. Just as we were about done, Hiccup entered the hall, and took a seat in the table next to ours. He was soaking wet from the storm that arrived a short while ago.

"Alright, lads, where did Hiccup go wrong?"

The others throw insults at him, but I didn't pay attention to them. I was focused on what I was going to do to tomorrow at the cove. Before I could think if any specifics, however, Gobber slammed a large book on the table.

"The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of." Gobber said while he pointed it. He then gave me a nod that said "you're welcome." That was when the sound of thunder rolled in.

"No attacks t'night. Study up." Gobber said before he walked away.

"Wait, you mean read?" Ruffnut said in shock.

"While we are still alive? Tuffnut finished.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout shouted.

"Oh! I've read it like, seven times. There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face. And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week..." Fishlegs started, only to be interrupted by the twins.

"Yeah, that sounds great. There was a chance I was going to read that..."

"...but now..."

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." Snotlout said before he got up to leave. The twins and Fishlegs followed. That left me with the Dragon Manual and Hiccup. I was tempted to read the book again, to make sure I didn't miss anything when I last read it, but then Hiccup got up and walked toward me.

"So I guess we'll share..." Hiccup started, but before continued, I pushed the book towards him and got up.

"Read it."

He said something as I left, but I didn't listen to him. I was deep into my thoughts, and I didn't even notice the rain as I ran home.

After I got home, I immediately prepared to go to bed while I was still deep in my thoughts. No matter what happens, I knew tomorrow was going to be a long day.

**Anyway, as always, review. I like to know what you guys are thinking.**


	5. The Bond

**I am so sorry that this late (by one day, by late nevertheless).**

**Edit: Whoops, had some very bad typos when I first uploaded this chapter. They should be fixed now.**

**Regardless, enjoy…**

When I woke up, I noticed that the sun was slightly higher up than when I usually got up. I was late, and I rushed to get ready and get to the hall before it was time to go back to the arena.

When I finally got to the great hall, I was relieved to see that Gobber didn't arrived yet. I quickly grabbed a piece of bread and ran back to the table I normally sat at, only to find the only seat open was the one next to Snotlout. He then looked at me and patted the empty spot.

'Yeah, not going to happen.'

I took a seat on the table next to the one the others were on, which put me right next to Hiccup...

"Uhhh, h-hi Astrid..." Hiccup said as I took a bite from my piece if bread, his voice cracking.

"Ummmm, hi?" I said after swallowing what I had in my mouth. He didn't say anything after that.

'Well, this feels awkward...'

Thankfully, Gobber came in before the situation got any more awkward.

"Al'right, get done with yur meals. T'day, I've got someting special planned for yu lads!" Gobber shouted.

After we finished our breakfast, we headed towards the arena. Though the others were chatted about what Gobber's "special surprise," I just wanted to get done with... whatever he had planned.

When we finally got to the arena, we saw what his surprise was: after cleaning up yesterday, Gobber set up a maze in the arena.

"Al'right, grab yur shields and get in there, lads."

We all bolted through the gate while Gobber closed it behind us. From the sound of it, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were together, and Snotlout followed me. At any other time, I would have kept my distance from him, but perhaps he would be useful in this situation.

I heard Gobber unlock one of the large doors before hearing the curious squawk of the Nadder as it entered the maze.

"T'day is all about attack! Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Yur job is to be quicker and lighter!" Gobber shouted right before Fishlegs screamed.

I kept moving while I keeping an eye out for the dragon, Snotlout in tow. I tuned out the other's voices, so the dragon wouldn't catch me off guard. That was when I heard the Nadder's breathing.

It was on the other side of the wall, and from the sound of it, the Nadder was coming towards my direction.

I walked to the end of the wall and positioned myself to keep an eye on the Nadder while also keeping as much of my body behind cover. The dragon then looked away from where I was, and I immediately somersaulted towards the next wall. I looked back and saw Snotlout do the same almost immediately before we ran off, trying to put more distance between us and the dragon.

Moments later, however, the Nadder spotted us from atop one of the walls and jumped down in front of us. Before I could do anything, Snotlout pushed me aside.

"Watch out babe, I got this." Snotlout said before he threw his hammer and completely missed the Nadder.

'You stupid, stupid...'

"The sun was in my eyes, Astrid. What do you want me to do, block out the sun?" He said as we both started to run. I tuned him out after that, as I focused on trying to get the Nadder if my tail. I kept running and running, and though I was certain that I ran past all the others, the Nadder ignored them and continued to chase me. As it did, the dragon knocked down some of walls, which knocked down more and more...

I ran towards one wall, and, without thinking, jumped on top of it before I moved on to another. The Nadder did the same, still locked onto me. Then I ran out of walls to jump to...

With nowhere else to go, I jumped. Before I did, however, the wall the Nadder was on fell and hit the one I was on, throwing off my balance and causing me to not land in my feet. I quickly got back on my feet and turned to see what happened to the Nadder.

It was partially buried under some of the fallen walls, but was getting up quickly. Hiccup, who somehow managed to not get buried as well, was looking at the dragon. He hesitated before he swung his axe back.

The axe just flew right of his hand, landing with a thud a short distance behind him.

He just stood there, paralyzed with fear as the dragon got back on it's feet. Before the Nadder could tear the scrawny teen apart, I grabbed my axe and threw it as hard as I could at the dragon's neck, only for the axe handle to be the part that hit it. Still, the dragon turned in pain, and walked away defeated back to it's cell.

Gobber closed the cell doors and raised the gate before he entered the arena. He looked dumbstruck before he opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, err, well done lass." Gobber said before he turned his attention to cleaning up the rubble. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins began to walk towards the gate, but Hiccup was still standing there, frozen in nearly the same position as he was when he tried to swing his axe, though his arm was down by his side now.

I began to walk towards the gate when the image of the Night Fury as it stared at me suddenly came back to my head. Remembering what I was going to do today, I ran towards my house to drop off my axe. As much as I wanted to bring it with me, I could only bring either it or a shield, and, as Gobber said, the shield was the better choice.

With the shield in hand, I ran into the great hall. I quickly made my way the towards the table and, after briefly considering to grab one of the fish, I grabbed a chicken and ran off towards the forest. It wasn't before long until I reached the edge of the cove.

With shield and chicken in hand, I made my way down into the cove. Right before I actually got into the open, however, my shield got stuck between two rocks. I tried to pull it out, but it was wedged in too tight. I then tried to kick it out, but all I managed to do was to crack it a little. Seeing that it wasn't going to budge, I threw the chicken over and crawled under the broken shield.

I looked around as I slowly made my way further into the cove. There was no trace that the Night Fury was even here. Everything seemed peaceful, quiet...

Too quiet...

That was when I turned and saw the black dragon climbing down a boulder, eyes focused on me. It stopped right in front of me. I held out the chicken by the leg, hoping the Night Fury won't eat my hand with it. It slowly came up to me and looked like it was going to grab the food, but it suddenly moved back into a defensive position and snarled. I pulled the chicken back and immediately moved my free hand to grab my axe, only to remember that I left it at home. The dragon saw that I was unarmed, it immediately relaxed it's body, the eyes rounded out, and it's ears perked up. It looked docile enough, so I held out the chicken again.

The Night Fury slowly came towards me again. It was cautious, but it seemed more... trusting this time. The dragon stopped a short distance from me, it's mouth open. The odd thing was... it didn't look like it had teeth.

"Odd, I knew I saw you having..." I was interrupted as teeth suddenly came out of the black dragon's gums. The next moment, the Night Fury tore the chicken from my hand, causing me to pull my hand back as it ate the whole thing in just a couple of bites.

"Teeth."

The dragon looked back at me as though it expected more food, and moved closer.

"That was the only thing I had!"

The dragon continued to move closer to me, even as I moved back. I kept my eyes on the dragon, even as I tripped on a small rock and fell onto my backside. Still, I tried to keep my distance until I was up against another rock. The dragon only stopped once it was right in front of my face. It looked at me for a moment before it closed it's eyes and started gagging. The Night Fury gagged more and more until it spat up a piece of the chicken I gave him before it slowly rose into it's hind legs and tail.

For a minute, nothing happened. I didn't know why the Night Fury spat up a piece of chicken, and I didn't know why it kept looking at me.

'What am I supposed to do?'

The dragon, as though it knew what I was thinking, warbled before looking at the chicken and then back to me before everything clicked.

'Oh no. No no no no.'

It wanted me to eat the chicken. The chicken that was still covered in dragon drool. I was disgusted by the idea. I didn't want to do it, I wasn't going to do it.

"Yeah, thank you, but I am fine..." I stopped when it began to growl at me, showing me some of it's teeth.

Well, I'd rather get out of this alive, and the chicken couldn't be that bad. I slowly rose the still dripping piece of chicken up to my mouth and reluctantly took a bite out of it. The Night Fury's ears perked up again, and I thought it wanted the rest of what I had, so I held it out again. The only thing the dragon did was swallow.

'Oh come on... Fine.'

I swallowed the chicken and was able to keep it down. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever had, and the only consolation I had was that I chose to bring the chicken and not a piece if fish. I shuddered from the thought and the aftertaste. I got up and looked at the Night Fury and threw the chicken at it's general direction.

'There, I swallowed it. Don't you want the rest of it?'

I turned around and began to walk off as the dragon at the rest of the chicken. I stopped near the pond and watched the fish swim about for a little while. After that, I looked back at the Night Fury as it burnt the ground beneath it and lied down on the scorched Earth. I decided it to take the initiative and walk back to it. As I got near the Night Fury, it finally noticed me, so I waved at it.

'Hey, I'm here.'

The Night Fury snorted as it got up and climbed up a nearby tree. When it got up to one of the stronger branches, and hangs itself on it, with it's tail fin almost in front of it's face. The dragon looked annoyed that I came back to it, and it groaned. I groaned back.

'Why am I wasting my time with this thing?'

I was about to walk away when it groaned again. I stopped and turned back to it, looked at the black dragon for a second, then groaned again.

'Perhaps imitating you will get you to work with me.'

The dragon groaned again, but before I could respond, it jumped out of the tree and looks at me as it began to walk off. I rolled my eyes, turned around, and shook my arms as I stormed off.

'Forget this. I am done with this stupid dragon.'

I walked back to the water and turned my attention back to the fish. After watching them swim for who knows how long, I grabbed a stick. Without thinking about it, I began to scribble stuff on the ground. For about a minute, I didn't pay attention to what I was marking on the ground. After that, I stopped, and looked at my work. Most of it looked like meaningless words and letters, but there was one word that I could read: Why?

"Why did I even come here?"

My thoughts stopped as I heard a warble. The dragon was watching me scribble for who knows how long. Before I could do anything, it took off again. After a moment, I heard something break behind me, and when I turned around, I saw the Night Fury with a small tree in it's mouth. At dragged the tree along the ground as it spun around. It constantly turned and changed directions, making marks in the ground around me. It stopped suddenly to take a look at me, and then it continued doing... Whatever it was doing. When it stopped it, it dropped the tree and had a content look on it's face. I took another look at the marks in the ground, and realized that it scribbled... Something, I had no idea what.

I tried to walk out, but when I put my foot on the ground, the dragon growled. Lifting my foot back up, the Night Fury warbled again. Turning my attention to my foot, I put it on the mark again, and I heard the dragon growl again. When I lifted it back up, more warbling.

'Alright, I won't step on your work.'

I walked out of the giant scribble, spinning to find a clear patch of ground. With each step, I lost myself more and more into the moment. Suddenly, I felt a breeze run against my back. I turned around, and saw the Night Fury, standing right there, looking at me. Almost instinctively, I raise my hand and moved it towards the dragon's head. It began to turn away and growl again, so I pulled back my hand. At that moment, an idea came to my head.

'Fine, I'll let you come to me.'

I held out my hand again, but did not move it towards the dragon, while I turned my head away. I waited for what seemed like forever, but then, I felt the dragon's snot on my palm. It was an amazing feeling, just being able to touch the Night Fury. It felt like...

Trust.

I looked back at the dragon as it… no, not it, he… pulled back his head. I relaxed my arm as I smiled at what just happened. As I did, the Night Fury began to do something with his mouth, awkwardly moving his lips. When he was done, he was showing me it's gums.

No. He was _smiling._

He soon stopped, and walked a short distance away before he burnt the ground beneath him and lied down again. He was still close to me and was still looking at me, but he looked like he was ready to fall asleep. I got up to return to the village, but I stopped as a thought came into my head.

He needed a name.

"Hey, you need a name." I said as I turned back to the Night Fury, now perked up. For a second, I considered names like "Blackwing" or "Skyfire," but then the image of his toothless smile came back to mind.

"How does Toothless sound?"

The Night Fury warbled at the suggestion.

"Toothless it is." I said as I looked at the sky, which was getting darker and darker.

'Has it been that late?'

I waved back to Toothless and quickly made my way back to my village. By the time I got back, the stars were out. I was almost home when I bumped into Gobber.

"Well, where have yu been, lass?" Gobber asked, his hook on his hip.

"I have been, uhhh, training." I said as convincingly as I could.

"Without yur axe?" Gobber said as he part of his unibrow.

"Uhhh, ya. I mean, I am not going to have it all the time, and I have to be prepared."

Thankfully, Gobber seemed to have bought it.

"Alrighty then." Gobber said before he began to walk off, but he stopped and turned back to me.

"Hey, aren't yu coming to the campfire we're having?"

"Uhhh, sure, yeah…"

"Well, come on then."

We made our way to the tower that once held a catapult before it was destroyed in the last raid. The others already made themselves comfortable, and each one of them, except for Fishlegs, had a stick holding food over the fire, while Fishlegs held his food in his hands. I grabbed a stick and put a small chicken at the end of it.

The others chatted for what seemed like hours, talking about all the ways they could kill dragons. The only ones who didn't talk was Hiccup, who looked embarrassed for having his axe leave his grip, and me. I didn't really pay attention until Gobber responded to something Snotlout said.

"Un-unh. It's teh wings and teh tails yu really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

What Gobber said caused me to remember Toothless's tail. He was missing one of his tailfins, and now, he couldn't fly.

'He will never fly again.'

'Unless…'

'Unless he had a new one.'

I thought how I would be able to get him a new tail fin. I didn't the slightest idea how to build a new one... but I had an idea who could.

"A'right. I'm off to bed. Yu should be too. Tomorrow we get into the big boys, slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?" Gobber said as he began to hobble off. As he did, I gave the chicken I had to Fishlegs and got out from my seat.

"You know, he's right. You guys have fun. Goodnight!" I said as I walked off.

The others waved me goodbye before they went back to their conversation. Once I got back on to the bottom of the catapult tower, I looked back to make sure they weren't paying attention to me before I ran off towards the Haddock house. When I got to the last house before Hiccup's house, I hid behind it and I waited. Before long, the person I was waiting for tiredly walked by. Before he could get to the door, I yanked him aside.

"A-astrid? What are you doing here?" Hiccup said, now startled.

"I saw how you did today in dragon training." I said as I crossed my arms.

"Y-yeah, I know. Did you see how skilled I was at throwing an axe backwards?" Hiccup said sarcastically, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I did. I actually wanted to talk to you about." I uncrossed my arms as he looked at me curiously.

"I see you are trying your hardest be able to kill a dragon, and it so happens I have some things that need to be smithed. I'll help train you, and in return, you will make me what I need. Deal?" I extended my hand to shake on it. Hiccup looked at me in disbelief for a second.

"Deal." Hiccup said before he shook my hand.

"Alright, I'll come get you in the morning. You better be awake when I come."

Hiccup nodded before he finally let go and walked back to his house. I sprinted back to my house before I got to bed.

'Soon, we'll get you back in the air…'

**Alrighty, some big changes have already occurred. Thus is the power of the butterfly effect!**

**Also, well, you know the drill by now. See you guys again next chapter!**


End file.
